We've Got To Do Better

Monique Nelson and her son were taking family photos

before she was shot and killed as she shielded her son

from the gunfire in a Stockton Blvd shooting on Wed

SACRAMENTO COUNTY — A second person has died in a shootout at a Sacramento strip mall.


He has been identified as 20-year-old Marvion Barksdale.

Two men walked into Fly Cuts barber shop Tuesday afternoon along Stockton Boulevard and opened fire, their intended targets pulled out their own guns and returned fire.

30-year-old Monique Nelson was shot and killed in the parking lot of the strip mall as she was putting her son into his car seat. Her son was not injured and is now with family members. Although there may be relations between the other shooting suspects and victims, Deputies believe Nelson was an innocent bystander.

Three victims were taken to area hospitals: a 28-year-old man was wounded in the shoulder and leg, a 27-year-old man was hit in the leg and a 37-year-old man was shot in the stomach. A 39-year-old man was grazed on the ankle and was treated at the scene and released.

Two other victims had been dropped off at different hospitals on their own, and were believed to be related to this shooting. One was a 27-year-old man shot in the leg, and the other was Barksdale, who had been shot in the chest.

Investigators have not identified a motive for this shooting.

Anyone with information regarding this shooting is urged to call Sheriff's Homicide detectives at (916) 874-5115 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (916) 874-5115 end_of_the_skype_highlighting, or Crime Alert at (916) 443-HELP. Tipsters may also send a text message tip by texting to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter SACTIP followed by the tip information. Callers can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000.

Copyright © 2010, KTXL-TV

6 Habits That Will Make You Go Broke

I found this article and thought it was worth sharing. One of goals for 2011 is to stop spending so much money on stupid stuff and start saving. Sometimes I look at my checking and savings account and think, where did all the money go. I'm guilty of a few of these habits.


1. Window shopping

It can be fun to browse the aisles and see what's out there. We all have our weak spots, like home goods, electronics or clothes -- even if you don't like to go to the mall. You don't even have to leave the house to window shop anymore; those catalogs, the Internet and commercials advertising the latest sale can be just as tempting.

Window shopping is a bad financial habit that takes some discipline to break. Staying away from your favorite retailers and not requesting catalogs or e-mail updates from your favorite stores is a good place to start. Before buying that latest item you pine for, ask yourself two questions: Do I need it, and can I pay cash for it? If your answer to either or both is no, walk away.


2. Carrying lots of cash

You know that paying with plastic is bad, but carrying lots of cash can be a bad habit too. Cash can give you the feeling of having extra -- fun money that's just sitting there.Online holiday shopping: 5 pitfalls

Carry only enough cash for what you need, and leave the rest at home. Avoiding plastic is great, but budgeting is just as important when choosing to pay cash.

If you like the green, try budgeting your cash with envelopes: one for groceries, one for entertainment, etc.


3. Saving your info with vendors

Those online shopping sites are so considerate to save your address and credit card information -- some even have one-click ordering buttons, so you can buy something in just a second. It's very easy and very dangerous. Not only does this easy shopping make you broke if you're prone to impulse shopping, it also eliminates the feeling of spending money, because all you do is click.

Don't allow vendors to store your credit card information. Avoid signing up for e-mails and catalogs if those tempt you to shop when you really shouldn't. It can be great to know about a sale, but if you didn't need anything, it's just another temptation.


4. Clipping coupons you don't need

We all feel the pinch in this tougher economy, especially when buying groceries. Clipping coupons is downright trendy today -- but is it really a good habit? Sure, getting 50 cents off that package of cookies or that brand-name detergent is a discount, but you may be surprised to find that your grocery bill isn't going down despite all your clipping.

The truth is that buying generic brands that are just as tasty is often cheaper; coupons can make us buy things we didn't plan for.

Start with a grocery list for the week, and then look at your clipped coupons. If you can use one, great, but try supermarket brands too for the best bottom line.


5. Shopping with your emotions

It was a rough week, or a good one, or you want to reward yourself for losing a few pounds, so you go shopping. You earned that new dress, that new gadget, that big pie -- it was on sale, too. Letting your mood dictate your buying decisions is the quickest way to go broke.

Sober up before shopping. Do you need these items, and can you afford them? Be honest with yourself. Reward yourself by doing something that doesn't cost, like taking a nice bath, or spending time with loved ones.


6. Not planning ahead

It's Tuesday, you're tired, and you have no idea what you'll make for dinner. A great night for takeout, right? Using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, it's estimated that the average family of four spends more than $4,000 per year on eating out -- a very expensive habit that will make you broke in a hurry.

When you make your grocery list, make a menu for the week at the same time, so you always have ingredients for a meal. If your week is hectic, try cooking on Sunday and freezing meals for the week. Plan for lunches the same way; not only will you save money, you'll eat healthier by avoiding fatty restaurant food.

The bottom line

It takes some discipline to break these bad habits. With some planning, restraint, and avoiding tempting situations, you can break these habits -- and maybe even find you have a little extra cash at the end of the month.

This article was reported by Claire Bradley for Investopedia.
Published Nov. 10, 2010

Cute Fall Fashions...and Some Other Mess

Cute Fall Fashions

I Love LV...and these are beautiful. Anybody think Mo and Khloe will become BFF's? Mo's fiance Shannon Brown and Khloe's husband are on the same team.





If I could find this dress....oh wee...ok, I can probably find it, but there's no way in hell I can get in it. Don't judge me!




A Mess


I've never had a hankering to walk around looking like a bug. Her dress looks like the inside of a butterfly.




Ok...just LMAO on Joan from Girlfriends. Even the man in the back with the chuck's on is looking at her ass funny.

For Christy....The Black Men Shortage!

Commentary: The Black Men Shortage
by Demetria L. Lucas







If I could, I would climb under a rock. That's the only logical way I can think of to avoid the onslaught of articles, primetime TV segments, books, and countless blog discussions lamenting "The Black Man Shortage." (TBMS)



TBMS is something like the Black girl equivalent of those end of the world movies that come trotting out every three-day weekend to thrill us with CGI effects, remind us of the importance of family, and most importantly, churn out hundred million dollar returns for a big studio. Whenever anyone in media needs some sort of ratings bonanza or send their website's comments section into a frenzy, they-- the most recent being "Nightline" -- trot out a story about TBMS, a horrific tale of no love and lots of loss that depicts a single Black woman from [insert any urban center here] clinging to a half-empty apple martini, a Louis Vuitton Damier Speedy or a perfectly-coiffed girlfriends.



I watched the Nightline segment on YouTube the day after it aired (I was trying to avoid it, but my Blackberry Inbox blew up with emails titled "Have you seen this?") I yawned my way through all the stats that I've heard so often they run through my head like a CNN ticker:



*42% of Black women aren't married;



*If every Black man in America married a Black woman today, one out of 12 Black women still wouldn't make it down the aisle if they hoped to marry a Black man;



* 70% of professional Black women with B.A.s, M.D.s and J.D.s. are "still without the more elusive title: M-R-S."



I stared blankly at my Mac screen as yet another batch of extraordinarily beautiful (the woman with the dimples? Gaw- geous) and successful Black women lamented their loneliness. I kept staring, even added an eye roll, as Steve Harvey suggested single Black women date "older men." (Oh, that's all I have to do?) I watched, added a side eye for emphasis, and I wondered... three things. The first of which was, why are we still talking about this?



The Washington Post gave good ink to this topic two weeks back. Oprah covered it when Harvey's bestselling relationship guide dropped earlier this year. CNN dedicated the vast majority of its first "Black in America" to this subject. Terry McMillian's been talking about TBMS to the masses since at least the 1980s. The very first ESSENCE had a coverline, "Black Man, Do You Still Love Me?"... in the 70s. The Moynihan Report documented this problem back in the 60s when the Black marriage rate still hovered around 62%.



Fifty years later, we're still talking, but what are we doing about it other than re-hashing the same material? Where's the action? (And by action I mean more than advice like, "date older men.")



You know what else I wondered? Where are the news stories about White girls and Latinas and Asian ladies who can't find a good man? Don't they have issues too? Cause the ones I know are in my single boat, rowing around the Hudson River with me and looking for love too. There's this entire fictional franchise called "Sex and the City" (maybe you've heard of it?) dedicated to White women's search for love in Manhattan that women of all colors flock to in droves because its relatable. You know why it's relatable? Because 51% of American women are living without a husband, i.e: they are single. This is the first time in American history that more women are single than married. Fifty-one percent of Latina woman are unmarried, so are 45% of non-Hispanic White women, and 41% of Asian women.



So all that makes me wonder, where are the stories about all these American (ie, not just Black) women? Why are women who are hued like me always trotted out for national viewing as lonely (and sometimes desperate), with the not so subliminal subtext that Black men just can't show no act right? Why are we always the ones chosen to sit in freshly-permed groups in chic bistros discussing dating hardships like we're the only ones facing them. Why is what is largely an American woman problem being so widely portrayed as a Black woman's problem?



Last but not least, I wondered, where are the men in this discussion? I mean, yes, you have Steve Harvey on set, but he's a relationship expert and further, ineligible to date as a married man. I've never understood why in all the roundtables about why so many women are single, no one ever just asks a batch of men, "Hey, what's keeping ya'll from putting a ring on it?" Or better, why no one ever gets the single men and women who are supposed to be pairing off with one another into the same room to discuss why they're not getting together. Isn't talking about heterosexual relationship problems and attempting to solve them in same-sex groups absolutely pointless?



Which got me back to the point of wondering what the whole point of still just talking about single Black women and the Black Man Shortage was to begin with.



I Kanye shrugged, closed my Mac and turned on my TV to get my mind off Nightline.



Guess what was on?



An end of the world movie.


Read more: http://www.essence.com/relationships/commentary_3/black_women_arent_the_only_ones_looking.php?page=34#ixzz16FyyUntC

Watch Out Now...Caffeine and Alcohol

There have been a number of reports of college kids hospitalized after drinking something called Four Loko, an increasingly popular type of beverage that’s high in alcohol (12 percent, up to three times more potent than beer) and contains as much caffeine as a cup of coffee. Students at Ramapo College in New Jersey and Central Washington University consumed the beverage and ended up in the ER with signs of alcohol poisoning. And now alarm is spreading—and not just on college campuses—about the dangers of mixing alcohol and caffeine.




People are right to be alarmed, says Holly Phillips, MD, an internist in New York City. "Your body's natural response to intoxication is to become drowsy, and when you’re drowsy you have less of an impulse to drink." But when you add caffeine to the mix, you don't get tired and may not realize how buzzed you are. So you keep drinking rather than heading to bed or cutting yourself off.



But Four Loko isn't the only dangerous mix out there. Ordering a vodka-Red Bull or a Sparks (an "energy beer") can spell disaster too. You want to steer clear of any alcoholic drink that also keeps you stimulated and awake, explains Phillips.



That doesn't mean you need to totally cut out either coffee or alcohol, though. While it's obviously important not to overdo it on the cocktails because that alone can put you in all types of dangerous situations, having caffeine during the day and a glass of wine at night doesn't cause the same problems as Four Loko. "The alcohol and caffeine effects are most pronounced when they are being metabolized at the same time, especially in the same beverage," Phillips says.


http://www.cosmopolitan.com/celebrity/news/loko-caffeine-and-alcohol-dangerous?click=cos_new

FM Friday's: Coons, Goons and Crazies !!!

Ok the tile should be self explanatory; but just in case its not here we go.


Coons



Back in the day the word Coon was used as a derogatory term to describe a lazy, uneducated, and worthless person in society. Most of them where portrayed as Black people through Blackface or by actual black actors Such as Amos and Andy, Uncle Tom, Mammy Etc. Well unfortunately coonatry is still alive and well today. There are many, many entertainers as well as common folks who continue to perpetrate the stereotypes of coonatry. (Myself included) I’m from the old school, you know the days of Public Enemy, KRS-1, Paris, Xclan etc. So the first time I saw the Flavor of love show onVH1 I was devastated, confused and saddened to see Flavor Flav (out of all people) wearing gold fronts while eating fried chicken and watermelon.

My question was WHY??? Now we know money was the main reason, but talk about selling your soul to you know who or doing something strange for some change. And I’m not even going to get into these rappers. So whether you’re going dumb/stupid or riding till you dying, you’re showing the world that this is what black people do in the USA. TIME TO STOP THE COONATRY-TIME TO STOP THE MADNESS.


Goons


Well now that thug life is pretty much played out they had come up with something that would keep us fussing and fighting with one another instead of focusing on our wealth and health. So out came GOONS. You know?? Goons, everybody has some goons nowadays. (Rappers, entertainers, Club owners) Notice if you take the C out of Coon and replace it with the G from gangster you get a REAL GOON. Once again a stereotype that many black men try their best to live out today. (On each other of course) I was listening to a so-called Goon on the internet the other day and he had the nerve to say that the US constitution gave him the right to be a Crip gang member and that they had the right to assemble and if taken to jail for this that he would be a POLITICAL PRISONER. Political prisoner??? (WTF). Really, this must come from the same vein of  thought that everything’s a damn movement nowadays. Most people toady wouldn’t know a movement if it was moving up and down in front of their face. STOP CALLING EVERY AND ANYTHING A MOVEMENT. And as far as being a political prisoner NEGRO PLEASE!!! Prison was made for you and all the fools like you get over it and get a real life. (Minus bubba)


Crazies


This Fm-Friday was just going to be about Coon, Goons and the destruction that they cause; however the lady of the blog (Ashley) wanted me to included Crazies so here we go. Last week here in Sacramento, Ca we had this CRAZY fool burn down our local mall. He went inside a Game stop and ordered everyone to leave claiming he had a bomb, gun, knife and bad breath. Well when everyone left he set the Game stop on fire. The fire dept. let the fire burn stating that the back pack could have had a bomb inside and that their safety was paramount. My question is that why be a fire fighter if you’re really that concerned with your safety? I mean isn’t this one of the most dangerous jobs in America? If there were 10 bank robbers in a bank with AK 47s would the police say “Hey let them go, too dangerous for me” I doubt it!! Plus if you seen this cat you would known that he can’t afford to pay attention, let alone afford a bomb or bomb making materials. So now we have a mall of all things burned to the ground, people out of work, and one crazy man going away for a long long time. But I can’t stop thinking of who was crazier the guy who started the fire or the fire dept. Let me know what you think???

FM Ram
FM Friday's

I Don't Trust It!

A birth control gel that is applied to the skin could offer woman an alternative to the Pill, say experts presenting latest trial data. Used once daily, it delivers hormones to prevent a pregnancy in the same way as oral contraceptives do. Early studies show the gel is effective and well tolerated, with none of the typical side effects associated with the Pill, like weight gain and acne. The Nestorone gel is being developed with drug firm Antares Pharma.

Researchers told the American Society for Reproductive Medicine how they hope to bring the product to market if clinical trial results continue to be positive. The gel can be applied to the abdomen, thighs, arms or shoulders and is quickly absorbed, with no residue. Experts say it is also suitable for women who are breastfeeding, unlike the combined Pill which can interfere with milk supply.

Dr Ruth Merkatz from the not-for-profit Population Council research centre in New York led the latest study, which involved 18 women in their 20s to 30s. Over the course of seven months, none of the women using the treatment fell pregnant. Hormone studies showed the gel suppressed the production of eggs by the ovary. The research found the optimum dose of the gel was 3mg a day.
"It's in early stage development but if we move on, we will obviously test it in many, many more women." The researchers say it could offer an alternative to the Pill, which is used by over 3m women in the UK alone. Natika Halil, director of information at the Family Planning Association, said: "Any contraceptive system that increases the choice of methods available to women and helps to prevent unwanted pregnancies is welcome.
"This product won't suit everyone and will only be for women comfortable (with) putting it on their skin and having their contraceptive cover that way."

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-11619044


Question: Can I rub it on my BF in hopes that the exposure it has on him will rub off on me or be so potent that when his sperm meets my egg it'll either die or my egg won't become fertilized? Why do I have to use it? When are there going to be some creams, lotions, patches, pills, gum or whatever for men to take to control birth?


I don't trust it! I know many women who have gotten pregnant using the pill, patch and shot. Now, there is a gel/lotion you rub on. Man, HELL NO! The other methods are risky enough.